The Virgil Independent School District and Reorganization

The Virgil Independent School District, Virgil, South Dakota is a small school district as are so many in South Dakota. The district has attempted over a period of thirty years to provide the high-school educational facilities need for its children and for the children in the surrounding community. Immediately following World War II the cost of providing an adequate education began to rise. A bond issue in 1946 prolonged the financial inadequacy until 1952. At this time the school board decided some ways or means must be found to provide a solution to the school district’s financial problems or the high school would have to be closed. The Problem: The 1951 South Dakota State Legislature passed a School District Reorganization Law in order to equalize both the tax burden and the educational and financial problems if they could reorganize the district within the provisions of this law. The writer undertook the problem to show how the Virgil Independent School District through its Board of Education and the County Reorganization Committee attempted to reorganize and solve its educational and financial problems under the provisions of the School District Reorganization Law of 1951. The Purpose of the Study: After two years of personal contact with the reorganization attempt of the Virgil District as Superintendent of School, the writer believed an objective reviewing of what took place during the two years would be of help to the Board of Education, the County Board of Education and others interested in school reorganization for the state of South Dakota and Beadle County. Although the reorganization plan for Virgil was not accepted, it was thought a report of what happened would be of some value. This attempt was one of the forerunners of many other attempts at reorganization in South Dakota. Reorganization is new in South Dakota as a statewide project. The writer hopes that, by showing the procedures and methods used, the mistakes made, and the reasons for the final outcome, this study may be helpful to others who will be attempting school district reorganization in the future